JPMorgan agrees to settle on sex discrimination suit

A sex discrimination lawsuit has hit one of the U.S.'s largest banking firms in a rather humiliating stroke: JPMorgan Chase will shell out $1.5 million -- to be distributed among 16 women -- to settle charges of sexual discrimination.

The women who filed the suit claimed that they were ostracized and taken off potentially lucrative sales calls as punishment for not embracing and engaging in sexually charged activity, according to CNN. And the U.S. EEOC has deemed the claim deserving of a court settlement. Instead of taking it to litigation, JPMorgan has agreed to settle.

The $1.5 million is chump change to the banking firm, but nonetheless significant as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found the bank in the wrong in the case finally settled after it was brought to its floor in 2009. At the time, JPMorgan denied wrongdoing in the settlement.

Public response from JPMorgan has aligned with the EEOC's decision. Two spokespeople for JPMorgan have issued statements of behalf of the bank. Reuters reported that JPMorgan's spokesperson Amy Bonitatibus stated, "We fully agree with the EEOC that harassment and discrimination have no place in the work environment."

And bank spokesman Jason Lobo stated, “We fully agree with the EEOC that such behavior should not be tolerated."

The company's male employees associated with the lawsuit have been discharged.

As a result of the firm's settlement, the banking firm has agreed to more closely monitor how their employees are doled out lucrative sales calls in order to assure fair opportunity and access to lucrative sales deals.